Ontario Office

Aminah is a union and community organizer in Canada. Her love for organizing came from her late father who was a hospital worker at Sick Kids Hospital and a community leader. Her work is aimed at strengthening inter- worker solidarity and building workers’ power globally. She completed her Bachelor of Arts at York University in Gender and Sexuality Studies and her Masters in Globalisation and Development with specialisation in Gender at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Connect with her @AminahSheikh.

Anthony is a racial justice analyst with an expertise in addressing anti-Black racism. He is also a lawyer that has appeared at various levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada, and has represented the interests of African Canadians before the United Nations. Anthony’s column, Colour-Coded Justice, appears regularly in the CCPA’s magazine, The Monitor. A father to a wonderful little girl, Anthony is also a Toronto-based municipal public servant. He is completing an M.St. in International Human Rights Law at the University of Oxford, and holds an LL.B. and a B.C.L. from McGill University.

Beyhan is a postdoctoral researcher, secondary teacher, and an advocate for a fully-funded and inclusive public education system. She currently works with Dr. Sue Winton at York University on policy enactment in secondary schools, researching the implementation of educational policy online during COVID-19 school closures. Beyhan holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Toronto (2019) and an MA in English from York University (2010). Her dissertation research examined the relationship between online learning and educational inequality in the Toronto District School Board. She is currently revising this dissertation for a book project with University of Toronto Press.

Martine is an Assistant Professor in the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo. Her research focuses on the political economy of housing and the pursuit of urban social justice, exploring themes related to gentrification, displacement, community organizing, public housing redevelopment, and the politics of social mix. Her current research focuses on the financialization of real estate in Canada, including multi-family apartments, student housing, and seniors housing. She was previously a postdoctoral fellow at Rutgers University, and worked as a housing policy advisor at the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, in the Housing Policy Branch and Homelessness Secretariat.

Ashleigh is an award-winning rural futurist, feminist, and researcher. Her work focuses on the way people, place, and power dynamics are reflected in and affected by policymaking, particularly in rural contexts. A long-time advocate for community-engaged, place-based approaches to public policy, Ashleigh has spent her career championing locally-led innovation. She is currently completing her PhD in Rural Studies at the University of Guelph. Recognized as a thought leader on rural revitalization and contributor to a growing body of research on ‘the right to be rural,’ Ashleigh works to advance evidence-based policy and public sector leadership across a wide variety of critical portfolios, including infrastructure, innovation, and inclusive community economic development.